25th Jul 2007 17:34
Namibian Resources PLC25 July 2007 Namibian Resources Plc - 1st Quarter Progress Report Namibian Resources Plc25 July 2007 Progress report for 1st quarter period from 1st March 2007 to 31st May 2007. Production for this quarter was 518.8 carats at an average size of .59 ct/st,which resulted from sampling, limited mining (in Hannahtal), bedrock sweepingand reprocessing tailings. Our sampling programme is nearing completion and a number of mining areas, havebeen identified in the South West of our concession. Once the overall samplingresults have been assessed it is proposed to move our DMS plant to a morecentral position within these identified resources to reduce trucking distancesand operating costs. The current work programme is as follows: (1) Hannahtal This small basin was prospected in April and production todate has been over 350 ct. The deposit is attractive because of its largeaverage diamond size (around 0.7 ct/st) and locally good grade. This resourcehowever is not large and future mining and bedrock clean-up of the mined areaseems unlikely to produce more than an additional 150 ct. (2) Mariannental Two trenches have been sampled producing consistentresults with diamonds being recovered from throughout the area previouslyindicated to be diamond-bearing by historic sampling. The average diamond sizerecovered to date during current sampling (0.43 ct/st) is slightly larger thanthe historic sampling size (0.39 ct/st). A further trench is to be sampledbetween the first two trenches. (3) Saltztal West Mining of this deposit was stopped in the first half of2006 due to excessive water influx. At that time around 400 ct of theoriginally defined resource was considered to remain. Mining in Saltztal Westhad consistently shown a wider distribution of diamonds on the valley floor thanhad the original sampling. Moreover, a sample trench by Sonnberg recovereddiamonds some 200 m further down-valley from the termination of the resourcedefined by the historic sampling. Therefore unquantified resources in additionto the above 400 ct are considered to be present in the un-mined portion ofSaltztal West. It is intended to pump out Saltztal West and complete mining ofthe deposit. Pumping is underway from an excavated sump. A trench has been dugfrom the sump to where we ceased mining last year. Mining will recommence onthis resource as soon as the water has been removed. (4) Hannahtal North This basin lies directly north of Hannahtal over arock ridge. A road has been completed for access and the first sample trenchwill be taken shortly. (5) Saltzpfanne This is a salt pan north of West Saltztal where our DMSmay be re-sited. A sample trench has been dug and will be tested shortly fordiamonds before a decision is taken on resiting the DMS there. It is not feltlikely that diamonds will be present. (6) Annatal The deeper deposits on the west side of upper Annatal arestill affected by underground water following the exceptional rains of Easter2006. However, both historic and Sonnberg's sampling has shown that a stripalong the eastern side of upper Annatal is characterised by a good averagediamond size (around 0.4 ct/st) and some moderate to high sample grades.Additional samples will be taken to better define the extent of this section ofthe deposit which is unaffected by water. Other areas A promising valley between West Saltztal and the Atlantic is to besampled as also are two possible diamond traps south of the mined out sectionof Saltztal East. All these areas collectively should provide us with a long term mining programmeand we look forward confidently to steady production when the current workprogramme is complete. Since 2004 Sonnberg's strategy has been to concentrate its sampling and miningactivities on the SW portion of its contract area. The reason is that this areais characterised by deposits with large average diamond sizes, which stronglyimpact on revenues. The area consists, however, of a series of relativelysmall, isolated basins each of which must be separately assessed for its diamondcontent. Historically, the area has only received limited attention compared tothe larger valleys (but with generally smaller diamonds) farther to the northand east in the contract area. This has meant that Sonnberg has had to carryout additional sampling to better define the diamond resources of this area andidentify those sections of the deposits that are suitable for mining. Themajority of the resources identified and mined by Sonnberg since 2004 havetherefore not been from within the resource statement of that year, the mainexception being the Saltztal West deposit. The original resource for SaltztalWest was 4,200 ct but this has been substantially exceeded without yet miningthe deposit out. It can be generalised that to date Sonnberg's sampling and subsequent mining ofthe deposits in the SW portion of the contract area typically reveal largerdiamond resources than does the available historical sampling. An example isthe Hannahtal deposit currently being mined. The historic sampling of thissmall basin produced only one diamond but sampling and mining to date haveproduced the results mentioned earlier. A C A CarltonChief Executive Officer The technical information presented in this report has been reviewed by DrDonald G Sutherland of Placer Analysis Ltd, technical consultants to SonnbergDiamonds (Pty) Ltd. Dr Sutherland is a Qualified Person for the purposes of theAIM Guidance Note on Mining, Oil and Gas Companies dated March 2006. DrSutherland has BSc and PhD degrees from Edinburgh University and is a Member ofthe Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has over 30 yearsexperience in diamond exploration and mining. 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